Bear
by Seryan Parks
Summary: Captain Ymir is a bear: an apex predator of the seas, the most feared pirate of her age. But now, her plate is full with privateer-turned-pirate Levi Ackerman cutting in on her turf, renowned pirate hunter Erwin Smith hot on her tail, and some doctor's son and his exiled Oriental princess waving a treasure map under her nose. One thing can be said for Ymir: She never backs down.
1. Chapter 1

"Why is this ship called _The Lady_?" the passenger asked in the predawn darkness.

"Because it is _literally_ the most boring name I could think of," the captain replied, adjusting the very, very old flintlock pistol hidden within the greatcoat she wore. " There are a dozen other _Ladies_ docked here. You wouldn't want your precious cargo sailing into port on the _Hrtkós_, would you?"

The passenger blanched visibly at the mention of the 'cargo,' his bright eyes widening and his hands unconsciously forming fists. The captain thought it was a little ridiculous- as if the passenger thought that no one knew about that precious little parcel of his. As if.

"No, I suppose you're right…." he murmured. "The _Hrtkós _would be much too recognizable."

"Have you any thought for where you're going?" the captain inquired, tugging down the brim of her tricorn hat.

"As far as you're willing to carry us." He replied without hesitation. "We- I can pay you handsomely. In coin, and perhaps… a mutual venture."

The captain had heard that one before. "Five thousand before we sail. We're carrying exotic _spices,_ for trade in the Caribbean." The captain winked. An interesting game they were playing, neither the passenger nor the captain wanting to say the word 'pirate'- not where people could hear them, anyway. The passenger dropped a bag of coins into her hand. Upon inspection, they were odd, foreign coins, but every one of them was solid gold, judging from the weight of the bag. The captain nodded in satisfaction.

"We're going to sail within the hour," the captain informed the passenger, suddenly turning away from his bright turquoise eyes. Eyes that had the same brightness as another the captain had known, once.

Around them, sailors loaded barrels and boxes of supplies: barrel after barrel of salted pork, ship's bread, oatmeal, sugar, butter, cheese and of course, beer. Ymir lost count of how many casks of beer were loaded. Beer was often the only beverage aboard a ship, and the cook usually used beer in soups, stews and the like. The 'cargo' involved a lot of pillaged silks and spices disguised as extra sail tarp and rigging. _Excellent,_ she thought. _This enterprise is off to a good start._ It was really too bad that a lot of the cargo would be left behind when they switched from the _Lady_ to the _Hrtkós_.

Ymir made her way down into the bilge to make sure that it was less than absolutely putrid and at least somewhat free of rats and leaks in the hull. She made her way up through the ship, making sure that it was seaworthy. This ship would be hers for the next two weeks, until the _Hrtkós _was done being careened by a portion of her crew in Spain. From there, her beautiful _Hrtkós_ would carry them wherever the winds and waters took them. Ymir smiled into the already hot August morning. Many merchant ships would be returning from trade routes to India and the Orient, home just in time to beat the choppy autumn seas and the ensuing winter storms.

She reached the top deck just as the loading ramp was being retracted and the sun was peeking over the eastern horizon. Her crew hailed her with shouts of "Cap'n Ymir" or "Cap'n Finn" as they scrambled over rails and riggings in preparation to set sail. The day promised to be bright and hot, with a decent wind already tugging at the sails of the _Hrtkós._ Ymir tugged at the brim of her tricorn, shading her eyes from the glare of the sun on the waters of the port. She breathed salt and felt the helm under her fingers, worn smooth from salt spray and many hands. Yes, she decided. Today was going to be a good day.


	2. Chapter 2

Eren didn't know what he was getting himself into. What he was about to do was incredibly risky, insanely dangerous. He was sailing with Ymir the Finn and her cutthroat crew, some of the most notorious pirates in the world! But it was for _her_, and that was enough for him. Because the safety of the princess was all that really mattered to him right now. Although he wasn't really sure how safe his plan would keep her… but it was something. A glimmer of hope was better than no hope at all.

Eren had loved he princess since he was a child and his father was the court doctor of the Nihon king. The princess was, Eren was certain, the most beautiful creature the gods had ever made or ever would. She was his whole world, even before she was cast from her throne and made a fugitive. Mikasa-hime was all he had now. And for her sake, Eren was willing to do anything. Including showing his map to Captain Finn.

"Captain Finn?" he asked tentatively.

The captain turned her head and looked at him. Her dark and cunning eyes were accented by the freckles on her face that spoke of long and hard hours laboring in the sun. She no longer wore the greatcoat she had the day before, but was dressed as simply as the members of the crew in a white shirt, a canvas vest and tarred breeches. The tricornered hat was the only thing that separated her from her crew. "Well if it ain't our young doctor. A fine morning, ain't it?"

It really was a lovely morning. It had dawned bright and cloudless, the sky painted in hues of pinks and oranges. Wind tugged playfully at the sails of the ship and the crew sang their haul songs with vigor.

"Never seen a finer one," he responded, fidgeting with the map in his shirt. "Captain, I came to ask you… before we set sail, I mentioned a mutual venture."

"Aye." The single word gave nothing away.

Eren pulled the map out of his shirt and unrolled it for the captan to see. It was painter elegantly in midnight black ink on woven reeds and tied with fine Asian silk. The captain spared a moment from overseeing her all-female crew to glance at it.

"A map." the captain remarked.

"Yes, Captain Finn."

"Allow me t' just hazard a guess here… a treasure map." Her tone was scornful.

"Yes, Captain Finn." Eren met the captain's cold gaze unflinchingly.

"Do I look a fool, boy? I don't waste me time on every damned map that comes my way. I don't waste me crew on wild-goose chases. I make me living like any other man who's gone on account. I take what I want."

"I have a feeling that you'll want what this map promises."

"Riches beyond me wildest dreams?" Captain Finn rolled her eyes. "I've got quite the imagination, boy." The captain began to walk away.

"Can you imagine the wealth of the royals of Japan?" Eren retorted to her retreating back. "Can you imagine revolutionaries overthrowing the king, and searching for all that royal treasure?" The captain stopped and turned around. Eren pulled on a key hanging on a cord around his slender neck. "Can you imagine a court doctor hiding that wealth and giving the only map and key to the location to his son before his death? Can you imagine those coins I gave you earlier… a hundred times over?"

Captain Finn locked eyes with Eren. "I'm listening, Doctor."

Ymir couldn't wait to leave this damned _Lady_ and get her own _Hrtkós_ beneath her feet again. She was restless, and her crew was, too. Her women wanted to pillage- find a merchant ship, raid it, kill whoever was on board, and send it to the bottom. If they went too long without a raid, Ymir knew, they would start to fight amongst themselves. But they were stuck as long as they were on the _Lady_, itself a merchant ship that only had cannons to marginally defend itself from pirates like her, they couldn't do any real pillaging. Though merchant ships by the hundreds were returning from China, the West Indies, Africa, even the New World, the _Hrtkós_ would not be raiding them for at least two more weeks.

Her first mate and a small crew were careening it in a small port town in Spain. Her beautiful _Hrtkós _was vulnerable while it was out of the water, barnacles and other pests being removed from the bottom of the hull. She knew, rationally, that once all the scum was off her ship it would be restored to its proper speed, but she was also afraid. The _Hrtkós _was inoperable while it was out of the water. Ymir aimed to get back to her ship before anyone else noticed that the infamous _Hrtkós_ was vulnerable in a flyspeck of a Spanish sea town.

Especially that thrice-damned Levi Ackerman. Ymir ground her teeth just thinking about him. She hated his briny guts. He was a privateer who had 'gone on account,' or gone pirate. And unlike most newly-minted pirates, he didn't have the common goddamned sense to be afraid of her. Civilians knew her and feared her. Merchants lived in terror of her. Even Erwin fucking Smith, the English navy's prodigy pirate catcher and bane of buccaneers everywhere, feared her. She wanted to hang Ackerman's short head off of her bowspirit to let the whole world know that she, Ymir the Finn, was queen of the seas. Her. Not some seafaring dog who had the guts to dare encroach on her territory. When she learned that he had gone on account she had hoped that he would have the sense to not anger her by looting on her turf. Levi had dashed her hopes quickly.

If she ever met him, on sea or on land, she would destroy him. She would teach him to fear her.


End file.
